A persnickty approach to life sparked by chlorine intoxication, saddle sores, & the solitude of a long run

Alive and Well…

I’ve made it through the biggest build phase for Gulf Coast 70.3 and so this week I’m rewarded with some well deserved rest….plus a little sprint tri on Saturday.

My last event was back in May, but March 2012 was actually the last time I took part uninjured. This was also when things began to fall apart. 2103 has been a year of change in effort to keep this body in motion!

The most monumental thing I’ve done is hire a coach.

When I decided to race IMFL, I felt like I needed the help to get through the year uninjured. I really believed I trained fairly hard and so maybe a little help backing off would keep me in the game, so to speak.

Time would show I wasn’t REALLY working as hard as I thought!

It was fun and games through base training.

Then we began the building blocks. Every day was harder than the next and I started to quickly see where I had been slacking in the past.

I quickly learned it was a bad idea to look more than 1 day ahead in Training Peaks. It was just better NOT to know!

Amazingly, as hard as it was though, I was able to complete each session, recover, and get up and do it again. Most evenings I went to bed feeling like I’d been in MMA fight, but by morning I was ready, willing, and able to repeat the process. The ability to absorb what she was giving me was simply remarkable.

I wasn’t carrying residual soreness or on the brink of injury.

During this last week, which naturally contained the highest volume and intensity to date, my hips started to get a little snarky. I have to believe a 4 hour bike/run brick followed by a 2 hr run the next day would do that to most of us mere mortals though.

It was a very manageable snarkiness and as I come up for air (and coffee) today, I’m realizing how vital it was/is to have an experienced coach to guide me through the process.

The race results will be what they will, but to make it through these workouts successfully after the year of injuries I’ve had speaks for itself.

Everything happens for a reason….

If I hadn’t been graced with the stress fracture, I would’ve never understood how much day-to-day help I needed. I would’ve never made that step to align myself with what will, no doubt, end up being the most valuable training tool I have…..

My coach…

Yesterday, as I finished up my run…hot, exhausted, and with sore feet…it truly felt like the end of a long race.

It didn’t matter how fast I was going only that I was still able to go….

I knew the hardest of the work was done and my body had held up. I was so happy and so grateful to have been able to complete every single bit of it because you just never know.

Sometimes we take that for granted…

injury…illness….it changes perspective a bit.

So now it’s race week and ohhhh it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to chase that carrot!!

Time to pick a tri kit (blue or red??), get the pedicure, pull out the wetsuit, and grease the chain…